[John M]

Hey Daniel:

RT is right. You have most likely a blown head gasket. And for that matter, its a right of passage for Alfa owners. Not uncommon to replace the HG. But luckily, its an easy fix.

Symptoms initially show themselves as smoking heavy on deceleration and idle. Coolant in the overflow is not a surprise. On acceleration the combustion gases pressurize the radiator and force coolant to the overflow. On decceleration, coolant will push back into the combustion chamber. Eventually you will smoke constantly as it progresses.

If you want to test it, you have to get a block tester and test for combustion gas in the radiator. A block tester is a suction tube with testing solution within that changes color if it detects combustion gas. You suck the air out the top of the radiator with the car running using the block tester. The air passes through the test solution....and if it changes color you have combustion gas in the radiator....and a blown head gasket.

And you had better hope that is all it is. In any case....white smoke = coolant in the combustion chamber of one of the cylinders. If not a HG, then that leaves you with liner seals (a huge PIA), a cracked head (major money), or something even worse. No matter what is causing the smoke, you had better park it before you bend or break a rod, eat a hole through a piston and/or break rings, or trash every bearing on your crank and ruin the crank.

In short, if its smoking heavy white smoke and you are still driving it....its just a matter of time until you trash the motor.

Can you fix it? Sure, with a little help from the board. Its a pretty easy fix for a head gasket.

Best of Luck,
John M